Karen Jerzyk

About the Book

The photographs of Karen Jerzyk are a contemporary iteration of the Morality plays popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. In these plays, actors would personify the moral qualities of charity and vice or by the universal human conditions of death, youth and love. The action would center on a hero, such as Mankind or Everyman, whose inherent weaknesses are assaulted by diabolic forces portrayed by the Seven Deadly Sins. The Everyman could enlist the aid of Mercy, Justice, Temperance, and Truth to direct them away from the path of folly. The plays were short, with their serious themes tempered by broad elements of farce and comedic gesture.